North Korea crisis: 12,000 US troops sent to peninsula amid NUCLEAR WAR fears
WORLD WAR 3 fears have grown today with the USA deploying 12,000 troops and hundreds of jets to the Korean peninsula.
GETTY
North Korea earlier this week said America was “begging for nuclear war” by holding the war games with South Korea, which kicked off today.
At least 230 war planes will take part in the military drills, with 12,000 US troops and 4,000 South Koreans, Daily Star Online reports.
North Korea claimed the exercise is preparation for an invasion, claiming it is also highly provocative and worthy of a fiery response.
The Vigilant Ace drills will take place from today until December 8. It will see US and South Korean forces flying over eight air bases across the peninsula.
Inside North Korea: The pictures Kim Jong-un doesn't want you to see
Mon, November 27, 2017Photographer Eric Lafforgue ventured to North Korea six times. Thanks to digital memory cards, he was able to save photos that was forbidden to take inside the segregated state
Taking pictures in the DMZ is easy, but if you come too close to the soldiers, they stop you
F-35 Lightning IIs, F-22 Raptors, bombers, spy planes and fighter planes will all take part in the drills.
US military leaders said the drills were “regular” and not a direct threat to Kim Jong-un’s hermit state.
A spokesman for the US military said: “Vigilant Ace 18 highlights the longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring friendship between two nations.
READ MORE: Will the USA attack North Korea?
GETTY
“It is designed to ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and reaffirms the US commitment to stability in the Northeast Asia region.”
But Kim himself has condemned the drills, describing them as an “extremely dangerous nuclear gamble”.
READ MORE: Will North Korea launch another missile?
GETTY
The Trump team is begging for nuclear war
The rogue state’s foreign ministry said: “The Trump team is begging for nuclear war by staging an extremely dangerous nuclear gamble on the Korean peninsula.
“The facts above evidently show who is the real nuclear war maniac and the ‘nuclear demon’ that disrupts and destroys peace of the Korean peninsula and the world.
“Should the Korean peninsula and the world be embroiled in the crucible of nuclear war because of the reckless nuclear war mania of the US, the US will have to accept full responsibility for it.”
